'Then, you know what I have to do, don't you?'

Naruto smirked, a smirk that would never have been seen on his face if not for this… Waterfall of Truth. It looked too much like a similar smirk that Uchiha Sasuke was in the habit of wearing.

'Just try it. We are too evenly matched, you and I.'

His counterpart's face settled into a grim countenance, and then he pushed.

Naruto's eyes went wide, and he tried to grapple with whatever it was that his counterpart was throwing at him, senchakra, the kitsune's youki, his natural wind element and some sort of arcane seal all thrown into one giant mishmash.

'You fool! I am the only one who's ever looked out for us! What's that village ever done for us, huh? Sakura, Sasuke, Kakashi, they all ignored us. Who stopped the shopkeepers from overcharging us, or made sure our heating didn't mysteriously break down every other week? Nobody!' he screamed, desperately trying to make see, to make him understand-'

'Shut up! I'm not listening to you anymore.'

'Anymore? Sarutobi-jiji is dead, and the only connection to our village with him! For four years you have refused to listen, but at least try now! We could leave, and go away, and find somewhere they'll like us!'

But he had wasted precious moments, trying to talk when he should have been acting. That strategy had always worked well for them in the past, but they were seemingly immune to each other's words, each other's entreaties and each other's truths. In the end, as always, it came down to fists and blue eyes burning with determination.

There was an almighty wrench, and then he knew oblivion.

He knew not how long he floated in that blackness; there was no reference of time. It could have been a tenth of a millisecond, a million years, three days or all the time in the world, it would not have mattered. He did not move, or feel, he merely was. Later he would wonder how he managed to retain his sanity in that eternal nothingness. The only answer he'd come up with was because of his familiarity with loneliness and betrayal even before this.

He'd never, in all his wildest dreams, imagined this. Sasuke, he'd seen from a mile away. Sakura, he'd been expecting for a while, even before that bullshit declaration of love. Kakashi he'd given up on three times, once when he paid no attention to him during training, once when he'd found out he was the Yondaime's student, and once when he'd found out he'd known about his father and not told him.

Tsunade, when she'd not told him they were family. Jiraiya, for not even thinking to tell him that he was his father's son. Iruka's eyes when he'd first walked into class had told him everything he'd needed to know about the scarred man there and then.

The Fourth, when he realised that the man he'd thought was the greatest ever was also the one responsible for his curse.

Jiji had been kind. He had looked out for him, even with a village nipping at his heels. The Old Man's smile and his pipe had been the first comforting memories Naruto had had. Teuchi and Ayame had been good to him. They had given him companionship, and food, won even his cynicism over with their refusal to serve anyone who'd insulted him.

He'd always known that trust was a bullshit ideal to build a ninja village on, the camaraderie was an idiotic value for killer assassins, that he as a demon container should have been wary of any hands. But instead his counterpart had happily grasped any hand that he had been offered. His dream of Hokage was as misguided as the village it was built on.

But even after all of that, he'd never thought that he'd be the one who betrayed him. That after all they'd been through, his own counterpart would believe that he was detrimental to their survival, that he'd have to be locked away, that he was weak.

At some point, he could not say when, he felt something shift.

Even in his nothing-place, he knew its significance. His counterpart had mastered the kitsune.

Even as he hated him, he was proud of him. They were both Naruto, after all. If they felt it necessary, they would move mountains.

But even oblivion has an end, and this was an end unlike any other.

Naruto's fights against Sasuke were legendary. Their ancestors were nothing in front of them, a war against single bloodlines, wood against eyes, in a Valley that came to be of the End. Uchiha and Senju were children playing at killing, these were true masters.

The fights of their descendants were destructive, rage and fire and fury, wind and life and youki, all clashing against each other.

The Valley of the End was not their meeting place now. Now they fought in the mists of Kiri, in the grasslands of Kusa, in the desert of Suna and under the pitterpatter of Ame. Then entire world was their battlefield.

This battle was no different, except that it happened in a village long dead. It happened among the whirlpools of Uzu, where Naruto's ancestors once played and fought and loved, where the crash of almighty waterfall and the roar of tumultuous whirlpool set the scene for another clash between the most powerful fighters of their age.

On one side there was a lithe, deadly ninja, epitome of his clan and his profession, silent, smooth, deadly. Tall, and pale, dark haired and calm faced, he would not have looked out of place in a Daimyo's court, another noble playing the ancient game of politics, had it not been for his eyes. They were a red far more terrible than anything his brother could have conjured, capable of sending his opponents into endless agonies at a second's notice. His blade coated in enough lightning to fry all the fish in a small ocean, his body never making an unnecessary movement, always perfectly poised to strike. The resemblance to the snake was only trumped by his resemblance to the eagle. Uchiha Sasuke was deadlier than any other ninja in the history of the world.

Except one.

On the other side, there was a blonde-haired, blue-eyed man who was antithesis to everything Sasuke stood for. His mouth even now smiling, his eyes a golden hue, senchakra and youki and his own bluish energy mixing to form a potent killing aura capable of sending all civilians and most ninja into conniptions. He fought not with his opponent's grace, but with brute power, his brawling punches landing with force and fluidity. His signature Rasengan hovering above his hand, he was the only man who could stand up to the Uchiha. Uzumaki Naruto was not going to let Konoha down, and he was not going to let his friend down either.

The silence was deafening. They had gone past words now; their fights had been too long and too brutal for that. At some unknown sign, they both moved towards each other with a flash, and the world shook in fear.

It had taken one mistake. Just one. A fire jutsu countered with an earth, a haymaker met with a block, hands and legs and mind moving too fast for any coherent thought to occur when he felt something he should not have. There was someone else in the vicinity. In the split second it took to recognise that chakra signature as nonhostile, as Sabaku no Kankuro, Sasuke saw his chance and took it.

It was a foolish mistake. Sasuke had been aware of the puppet-nin for longer than Naruto, and that momentary inattentiveness would now be his end.

Before Naruto had the chance to blink, he had a fist of lightning coming at his head, and he could not avoid it.

His hands barely reached Sasuke's. Not good enough to block, but certainly good enough to deflect. The blow that was meant to decapitate him merely took out his heart, instead.

Naruto was dead, and it was only a matter of time before his body knew it, too.

But Naruto was a genius in ways that people do not count genius. Never in a million years could Akasuna no Sasori, were he still alive, think of his plans. The frog sages of Myobokuzan were astounded at his adept use of the sage arts. And he always had one last move.

One that continued to prove that he was, indeed, Konoha's Number One Most Surprising Ninja, and his father's son, too.

Sasuke was almost caught off-guard by his success. After years of continual fighting, he had finally killed the deadlast loser he'd always known Naruto was. The fool had paid for underestimating him.

And just as Naruto's momentary distraction proved his undoing, Sasuke's own proved critical.

Naruto used no handseals, no chakra, and no death defying ultrajutsu.

He said one thing.

'Kai'

He could no longer see anything, his mind furiously trying to make his plan work, hoping against all hope that he knew the theory.

He saw a sixteen-year-old boy fall onto the ground behind Sasuke.

Their eyes met for a brief moment, and that was all that was needed.

'Sorry' he said.

The boy's eyes widened, conflict raging within them.

''Sok ,' he replied.

And as both the youki and life left him, he had one final thought.

'So this is what it's like, to be free.'

Even oblivion has an end, though Naruto could not believe it had.

Thrown onto the ground, surrounded by the spray of whirlpool, he had nary a second to blink.

He watched as his counterpart died, Sasuke seemingly unaware of his own presence. There were only two thoughts in his mind.

The bastard brought me back!

The other bastard killed me!

And then the youki left his counterpart, flooding out like pus from a boil, all heading for… him?

Oblivion came once more, and his only thought was 'Oh no, not again.'

He found himself in the sewer that was his mind.

BOY, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE NOW?

'Kitsune?' he murmured.

'Well, yes and no. Sortof. Um. But it worked!' came another, very familiar voice. It had a little more gravel in it that he remembered, a little more weariness, but it was still recognisably him.

'YOU! You locked me up on some forsaken place! What the fuck did you do to me?'

'What I had to. I put you away, somewhere no one could get to you. I think it's where Father when between flashes, but I can't be sure. Never did manage to get that damn thing to work', his counterpart ended sheepishly. 'Wait, let's get away from this stupid sewer.'

'Fuck that shit! What did you do to me?' he said angrily, as his surroundings changed.

'I had to master the Kyuubi, and for that, you needed to go away. So I put you away, and then I brought you back' he said, with a hard edge in his voice. 'I was dying, and I couldn't risk Sasuke figuring out a way to get the Kyuubi. You, on the other hand, you still had a seal on you, powerful as the day it was made, not like mine. I figured, if I summoned you back, then the youki would flow naturally into a place that was meant for it.'

Naruto fumed. 'You used me. You threw me away, and then you used me.'

'Would you have done any different?'

Naruto snorted.

'Look, we don't have much time. Even less than when Father and Mother did this, and they had no time to prepare either. Listen. It's been almost eight years since that day. Madara is dead-'

He started at this.

'Yeah, I know, I killed him off. Unfortunately, Sasuke inherited his mad plan, except he wants the Jyuubi so he can kill everyone. Or something, I'm not too sure of the details. Kirabi is missing an arm, but he's still jinchuriki. I need you to make sure we're still jinchuriki too, and that we stay that way.'

'Oh yeah? And why should I do any of that?' he barked.

'Because you'll be you. I'm dead, and you saw me die. You didn't make the promises I did. You didn't swear to be Hokage, to bring Sasuke back, to change the Hyuuga or protect Konoha or save Karin-chan.' His voice hitched a little at the last one. 'That was all me, even when we were both the same. I'm giving you the chance I took for myself.'

The implications were clear. He'd been through a load of shit, but he was taking responsibility for all of it. Naruto would be free.

'No saving people if I don't want to?'

'No saving people if you don't want to' his counterpart grinned at him. 'Just keep the Kyuubi safe, and you can get up to whatever shit you like. Though with the state the world's in….' he trailed off.

'The world's always been shitty, no surprises there. Fine. I'll keep the Kyuubi safe for you.' I forgive you.

There was still one more thing, and they both knew it.

'Sasuke?'

'Like I said, just keep the Kyuubi safe, and you can do whatever you like.'

'Damn, you really mean this.' Eight years really had an affect on his counterpart. He was impressed.

He was fading, now, and he wasn't fighting it.

'Do what you always wanted to do. Be free.'

And with that, he was gone.

Kankuro watched in horror, as Sasuke killed Naruto, as a younger version of Naruto seemingly popped out of thin air, and the red energy he knew to be the demon's went straight into the boy. Naruto's eyes blurred for a moment, then went straight from their blue, a blue he hadn't seen in years, it struck him, to the golden he'd become used to.

But even as he watched, it became obvious this was not the Naruto Konoha and Suna knew, and it was not his friend at sixteen, either. There was no complex time-travel here. This boy looked like someone had cloned Naruto, and then put in a different person inside of him. It was unnerving, to say the least.

He wondered what Naruto had done.

Naruto awoke from his stupor, and immediately fired a Rasenshuriken at Sasuke before retreating to the other side of the battefield.

Sasuke, only now recognising this new threat, easily avoided it. His confusion set aside, he began warily testing his foe.

It was almost laughable, how they fought. All their complex tactics, their intimate knowledge of each other, none of it came to use. The way he was using his shadow clones, shadow clones, as if by now he had not realised that they were useless against him, his no-nonsense rasengans, his unsubtle senjutsu, it was all wrong. And yet Sasuke could not keep up. He kept blocking attacks that never came, kept planning for manoeuvres that never happened, he was constantly caught off guard. He was being bamboozled by a sixteen-year-old version of his worst enemy!

He gritted his teeth, and forced himself to disregard his shock, forced himself to accept that Naruto had somehow come back from the dead, and focussed himself on killing the boy in front of him, when he realised one very simple fact.

It was this same fact that ended most fights that Naruto and Sasuke had with each other. That despite both their godlike abilities, they were still very human. And they got tired.

Sasuke was weary; bone-weary that came with a battle with Naruto, and his adrenaline had finally given up on him. And it seemed the boy who was wearing Naruto's face had realised this too.

'Hello, Uchiha' Naruto said, in a cold voice he'd never expected he'd be able to use.

'Naruto' he grunted. They were both a good twenty metres away from one another, and yet they heard each other as if they were right next to each other.

'He used to do this, you know. Talk. Talk to everyone he met, try to get them to like him, try to get them to change. And he did. He was so good at it. And even after everything he did to me, I think I forgive him. He's me, after all, and I can't very well hate myself.'

After an eternity on his own, he could be spared a few words. And the man in front of him could barely move, and he would leave much sooner than Sasuke's fatigue.

'But I find that talking isn't a good way to deal with people who betray you, and want to kill you. No, violence is the only option.'

Sasuke's eyes widened noticeably.

'Listen to me, Uchiha. I am not the Naruto you knew. He is dead. That happy man, who wanted the world to be peaceful and bright, he is ended, and you killed him. I am Uzumaki Naruto, and I. Am. ANGRY.'

'I am Uzumaki Naruto, toad summoner and wind user and sennin. I am jinchuriki to the Kitsune, the most powerful of the nine. I have dealt with an all-powerful demon who has lived for as long as shinobi have walked this earth. You do not scare me.'

'I defeated Pain of the Six Paths at the height of his power. I have faced Orochimaru of the Sannin and lived to tell the tale. I tamed the Tanuki, and I have ridden on the head of Gamabunta. And I am coming for you.'

'It will not be today. It will not be tomorrow. But know this, Uchiha. I did not make that promise, to bring you back to the Leaf. That was another man, a dead man. But if you would like a promise, here is one I am willing to give you.'

'I will see you dead, Uchiha, and I will rejoice in it, because I will have brought you to it.'

Sasuke was almost sure that this was a hallucination brought upon him by sheer exhaustion and having finally managed to kill the fool. This boy was not him, Naruto would never say the things he was saying. But somewhere, despite all the death threats he had received in the past and shrugged off, this had an effect on him.

He managed one word.

'Why?' he whispered.

He spoke with wonder, as if only now realising the truth of his words.

'Because I am Uzumaki Naruto, and you killed him. All I ever wanted to do was protect him, and you killed him.'

'I am coming for you, Uchiha. Watch your step, and watch your back.'

With that, Uzumaki Naruto multiplied, three thousand of him standing where there had once been one, all of them scattering to the four winds. As Kankuro watched, his message undelivered, Uzumaki Naruto died, and was reborn.

A/N so i figure fanfiction is a place where i can make things that would never happen happen, just because i think it'd be cool if it did happen. which is why many of my drafts have speeches like dark naruto's speech at the end of this one shot. i think they're bad-ass speeches. this is a one shot. i don't know where i'd go with this even if i wanted to. please review.